Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was benched for the final quarter of Saturday’s last-second loss to the Brooklyn Nets, with coach Nick Nurse admitting the former NBA MVP is ‘not himself.’
The Sixers rallied from a 17-point deficit, only to lose their seventh game in a row, 105-103 on a buzzer-beating tip-in by Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton.
Nurse defended his decision to keep Embiid on the bench after the two-time league scoring champion had tallied just 14 points in 31 minutes of action and missed all six of his 3-point attempts.
‘That group was just playing so well together and had good feel for the game at that point, and just wanted to let them roll with it,’ Nurse told reporters.
Embiid, who has been nagged by injuries all season, declined to comment after the game.
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After signing a three-year, $193 million contract extension in September, Embiid said last week that his left knee is still bothering him a full year after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus.
‘The way I was playing a year ago is not the way I’m playing right now,’ Embiid said last week after a loss to the Celtics. ‘I probably need to fix the problem, and then I’ll be back at that level.’
Saturday’s benching provided even further evidence.
‘He’s not himself, we all know that,’ Nurse said. ‘He’s not certainly the guy we’re used to seeing play at a super high level. But I commend him for giving us what he can.’